\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003ePulitzer Prize\u0026ndash;winning poet Louis Simpson has been a leading figure in American letters for more than half a century. Born in the West Indies, Simpson immigrated to the United States at the age of seventeen. He studied at Columbia University, then served the US Army in active duty in Europe during World War II. After the war he continued his studies at Columbia and at the University of Paris. While living in France, he published his first book of poems, \u003cI\u003eThe Arrivistes\u003c/I\u003e (1949).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe poems in \u003cI\u003eStruggling Times\u003c/I\u003e find Simpson\u0026rsquo;s distinct imaginative voice working at its full poetic power. Both timely and personal, the poems reveal Simpson\u0026rsquo;s ongoing quarrel with suburban America, as well as the American government\u0026rsquo;s struggle to retain its integrity and honor in the midst of its own aggression and worldwide strife.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cI\u003eYou have to be careful\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003ewhat you hear or see.\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eIn Afghanistan I saw\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cI\u003ethe man and the woman\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003ewho were caught in adultery\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eburied up to their heads.\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cI\u003eTheir children were brought\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eand told to throw stones.\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eI can still see the heads\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cI\u003etwisting on the ground.\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eThe poor devil in\u003c/I\u003e Papillon\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003ewith his head in the guillotine . . .\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cI\u003ebut Goya\u0026rsquo;s half-buried dog\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003elooking up at the sky\u003c/I\u003e\u003cBR\u003e\u003cI\u003eI think was the worst of all.\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is the Jamaican-born Simpson's 18th collection; its dry trimeters and tragic resignations should certainly please the faithful fans... Yet the new poems, as much as any in his oeuvre, leave room for unexpected happiness...Simpson believes in endurance and the rewards of the ordinary. He can, at his best, make his readers believe in those things too.\"\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160;\u0026#160; --Publishers Weekly\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cB\u003eLouis Simpson\u003c/B\u003e\u0026rsquo;s last book, \u003cI\u003eThe Owner of the House: New Collected Poems 1940-2001\u003c/I\u003e, (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2003) was finalist for the National Book Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize. His other honors include the Prix de Rome, Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, and the Columbia Medal for Excellence.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e
nl
en